Asset management

Thruppence: Who wins by sponsoring UK book prize?

29 Jan 2019

Man Group has ended its support for the UK’s prestigious Booker award. The hedge fund decided there were worthier recipients of its 1.6 mln pound annual cheque. Luckily for aspiring authors, Breakingviews columnists have a handy shortlist of those who could step into the breach.

Busy activists navigate tricky currents

22 Jan 2019

They are rattling the cages of new targets like Pernod Ricard and Campbell Soup. But regular investors are more demanding, and private equity may muscle in, panellists told Breakingviews Predictions events this month. The test is whether active shareholders produce better returns.

New Jupiter CEO’s challenge is to fix niche model

22 Jan 2019

The $55 bln fund manager hired Andrew Formica as its new boss after a year of client departures and near 50 pct stock fall. It doesn’t help that it depends on fickle retail investors, in Brexit-torn Britain. Finding more institutional clients is a priority, but will take time.

Market turmoil is last straw for asset managers

18 Jan 2019

State Street will slash its payroll by 6 percent. Both the selloff in stocks and outflows hit the company’s AUM in the fourth quarter. The investment industry is already reeling from fee pressure and turning to technology as the solution. That will mean plenty more pink slips.

BlackRock earnings dip is more than a blip

16 Jan 2019

Larry Fink’s manager of $6 trln of assets saw revenue and profit fall in the last quarter from a year earlier. December’s stock rout predictably hit fees, but the shift to cheap ETFs from actively managed funds also accelerated. That’s likely to continue even if markets recover.

Masters of detail will rule in jumpy markets

10 Jan 2019

Big swings in both directions in equities and bonds make it dangerous for investors to jump out of one and into the other. Better to drill down and find groups with healthy balance sheets and decent free cash flow. Those chasing high growth or cheap valuations could come unstuck.

Plunging GAM shares belie elusive value

13 Dec 2018

With shares down 80 pct this year, the Swiss asset manager could be a takeover target. Cost savings alone are worth more than its market value. Yet uncertainty may lead clients to pull money, leaving a buyer with little. Fund group valuations are especially blurry in a panic.

Amundi’s issues are of a higher quality than peers’

26 Oct 2018

The BlackRock of Europe is sticking by a 7 pct adjusted net income target through 2020. That’s higher than what it managed in the third quarter. But a faster rise in net inflows despite choppy market conditions is better than the outflows seen by rivals.

GAM takeover is only for the foolhardy

23 Oct 2018

Funds are flowing out of the Swiss group that suspended a money manager over compliance issues. Its stock has nearly halved in value since the scandal broke but the case for a takeover is far from compelling. The risk of haemorrhaging more assets will deter potential acquirers.

Aviva will find strategy harder to switch than CEO

9 Oct 2018

Mark Wilson is leaving the insurer after six years. Although he simplified the firm, boosted capital and bought Friends Life, Aviva’s valuation lags peers. If his successor can’t strategically advance beyond cross-selling and digital forays, it could become a takeover target.

UK tries shock therapy for fund liquidity disease

8 Oct 2018

Britain’s FCA is clamping down on open-ended funds that invest in hard-to-sell assets. One suggestion is to force funds to suspend redemptions – as happened in the chaos after Brexit – more frequently. That might eventually lead investors to pick less ropey fund structures.

Wealth tie-up can crack Lloyds’ top-line conundrum

8 Oct 2018

The UK bank is in talks to create a wealth management joint venture with Schroders. Boss Antonio Horta-Osorio needs to boost revenue to comfortably hit his 2020 targets. Flogging more savings products will boost fee income which has halved since 2012, while avoiding costly M&A.

Investec fund float could attract predators

14 Sep 2018

The Anglo-South African financial group is listing its asset management arm in London. Decent growth and increased focus should support a healthy valuation. With assets of 109 billion pounds, it may also make a choice morsel for a bigger rival.

Ashmore flashes buy signal on emerging markets

7 Sep 2018

The fund manager that focuses on these riskier geographies is growing revenue. Also, its managers are taking more risks as a rout caused by rising trade tensions and turmoil in Turkey throws up opportunities. That suggests developing markets can avoid a synchronised slump.

Pimco finds finance role robots can’t yet play

5 Sep 2018

John Studzinski, a Blackstone consigliere and consummate networker, is joining the bond fund manager to help woo rich and powerful investors. Pimco, like its rivals, is investing in big data and machine learning, but hiring “Studs” shows the high-touch stuff still matters too.

Saudi’s investment fund: the view from 2023

20 Aug 2018

The kingdom wants to expand the assets of its Public Investment Fund by 60 percent by 2020 as it diversifies away from oil. That involves it taking some big, risky bets. Breakingviews imagines the letter its chief executive will write five years hence.

Tesla is risky vehicle for Saudi reform drive

14 Aug 2018

The Gulf state wants to diversify away from oil and might help take the auto group private, reckons CEO Elon Musk. That’d be a mistake. Tesla could flop even if electric cars take off, and Musk’s buyout price is too high. There are cheaper ways to play the energy transition.

Political risk creeps into China’s very bad bank

13 Aug 2018

Huarong Asset Management says earnings will drop sharply, after its chairman’s fall from grace triggered a liquidity crisis. The government, its top stakeholder, seems content to watch the shares collapse. Investors will take note: state backing now comes with more caveats.

Saudi’s fund manager-in-chief veers off-piste

10 Aug 2018

Mohammed bin Salman wants to diversify the desert kingdom away from oil. Buying pricey Tesla stock while selling Canadian assets seems a strange way to do that, though. To stop further net outflows of capital, the crown prince could do with sticking more closely to his mandate.

Standard Life Aberdeen needs more activist touch

7 Aug 2018

The asset manager formed from last year’s merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen keeps losing funds. Cutting costs and returning capital have failed to close the discount at which the company trades to peers. Selling the India business and ditching a twin-CEO structure might help.